Fire traps 70 inside Canada mine*EDIT*All safely rescued now

[Miss Mary]

Another mine fire. I pray these miners are found safe and alive.

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http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/ ... index.html

Fire traps 70 inside Canada mine
All believed safe in emergency rooms

Sunday, January 29, 2006; Posted: 10:39 p.m. EST (03:39 GMT)
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/ ... index.html

ESTERHAZY, Saskatchewan (AP) -- Fire broke out Sunday in a mine in central Canada, forcing some 70 miners trapped underground to retreat to emergency rooms with oxygen and supplies, a mine official said.

Marshall Hamilton, a spokesman for Mosaic Company, the Minnesota-based firm that operates the potash mine, said the fire broke out around 3 a.m. nearly a mile underground in the province of Saskatchewan.

The miners reported smoke and headed for safe refuge rooms where they waited for firefighters to put out the blaze and for air quality in the mine to improve.

"In those refuge stations, they can seal themselves off and there's oxygen, food and water," Hamilton told CBC Radio. "And they can stay in there for at least 36 hours."

Hamilton said company officials had not been able to establish a radio link with 30 of the miners, but that there was "no reason to doubt they are anything but safe."

"We are in regular contact with approximately 40 of them," he told CTV News. "There are 30 of them that are in an area where the communication link, we believe, was destroyed by fire, so we believe they're safe."

Teams of rescue workers were been going into the mine for a few hours at a time, beginning about 5 a.m.

Hamilton said they believe they have found the source of the smoke and were working on extinguishing the fire. He said the mine would be cleared of smoke and toxic gas before workers would be brought out, adding "we'd rather do this safely than quickly."

"We'll go get them when we're absolutely confident that the fire is out and the smoke and the toxic gases that are associated with fires have left our operations, and the air is safe for them to breathe," he said.

He said that some of the miners' families had gathered at the mine.

"They're a little bit tired. They're a little bit anxious. They have confidence that we've going to safely bring them up," he said. "Nevertheless, they'd like to see them sooner rather than later."

Potash is a pinkish-gray mineral used in the production of agricultural fertilizer.

[Brent]

This is much different... they are in an emergency room underground with supplies. I think the outcome will be much better here than in West Virginia.

[HurricaneGirl]

Praying that is the case Brent...

[Miss Mary]

Update - miners safely rescued. Praise God! I'm going to edit the topic title.
Mary

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http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/ ... index.html

Miners rescued after 24 hours trapped
'They're up,' company official says


Monday, January 30, 2006; Posted: 7:25 a.m. EST (12:25 GMT)

Miners were trapped by fire for 24 hours in a potash mine near Esterhazy, Saskatchewan.
Seventy miners trapped (2:14)

TORONTO, Ontario (Reuters) -- A group of Canadian miners, trapped by a fire in a potash mine for 24 hours in central Canada, was finally brought to the surface after the mine was cleared of fire and smoke, a mine official said on Monday.

The fire, which broke out at 3 a.m. (4 a.m. ET) on Sunday at the mine in Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, had forced 70 miners to rush to safety in emergency refuge rooms.

It was unclear whether all 70 miners had been brought to the surface or just the first group.

The mine is owned by Minnesota-based Mosaic Co. and is near the provincial border with Manitoba.

"They're up," said a Mosaic official, manning the company's hotline in Esterhazy. "The ones that there was originally no communication with have come to the surface."

Mine officials had originally said they had lost radio contact with 30 of the miners but later found them safe in a refuge room.

Miners at the site reported smoke almost a little more than a half mile (1 kilometer) underground early Sunday morning.

The miners had been pinned in several safe rooms as firefighters battled the blaze and then focused on clearing the smoke from the mine so the workers could be safely evacuated.

Company spokesman Marshall Hamilton said a rescue team had reached the refuge rooms, seen the miners and sealed them back in the safe rooms until the fire was being extinguished.

The fire was finally put out and rescuers began the task of ventilating the mine, a process made slower by the size of the mine, about 18.6 miles (30 kilometers) by 12 miles (20 kilometers).

Hamilton said the miners were trained to seek safety in the refuge stations, specifically built and designed for such incidents.

"In those refuge stations, the workers can seal themselves in and be safe with enough oxygen, food and water to be comfortable for 36 hours at the least," he said, adding that the families of the trapped miners had been kept informed.

The mine scare raised memories of a fatal explosion in a West Virginia coal mine earlier this month. Twelve miners were killed and one injured in the blast.

The Canadian mine is the main employer in the small Saskatchewan town. It produces potash, a mineral used in the production of fertilizer.

[TexasStooge]

ARE THE COAL MINES CURSED THIS YEAR?!?!?!?!?!

[Skywatch_NC]

So VERY thankful all those miners were rescued!!

Eric

[Brent]

I wish the U.S. had safety measures like that.

[feederband]

I begining to wonder if these kind of thing happen alot more often than we know...Just the press is keeping tabs on them lattley...